After you've familiarized yourself with players' backstories and learned how to pronounce their difficult names, follow this guide for the worldwide web of the World Cup. It's important to note that mega TV networks mainly hold all the rights to streaming the games online. (Though there are plenty of other sites that might stream the matches, they're not always legal.)

Online

USA: ESPN, the all-sports-all-the-time network, is all over the event. The channel will not only present all of the games live on TV via ESPN (43 matches), ESPN2 (11 matches) and ABC (10 matches), it will livestream all 64 games online. Every game will be available via the WatchESPN site and app, which is available for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, Chromecast and more.

The 10 games that air on ABC will be available via WatchABC. However, these online services are only available for those who already have cable and pay for access to the network.

Another site making the games available is Univision. The Spanish language network will air 56 games on Univision Deportes, its sports channel, as well as via its UD app. Like ESPN, the service is only available to subscribed viewers.

The UK: Across the pond, the BBC iPlayer and ITV will also be streaming the games for viewers in the United Kingdom, starting with the first match England plays against Italy on June 14. Both services have apps and sites that will stream the matches live.

Canada: Canadian viewers can check out CBC, which will stream all of the games live on its site, in addition to replays which will be available on demand. Unlike ESPN, it's a free service.

Australia: The network SBS has secured the rights to stream all 64 games online for Australian viewers, in addition to providing accompanying apps and radio broadcast.

Social media

Twitter: If you're truly addicted to the social site, you can't watch a major telecast without constantly checking your feed. So keep up with the sport via Twitter by following certain hashtags. The site Fanbrandz has put together a fun, handy guide to tags you should expect, like #GoSocceroos (for Australian fans), #EmBuscaDoHexa (for Brazilian fans) and #Bleus (for French fans).

Facebook: Make sure to "like" ESPN FC, the network's channel dedicated to the beautiful game. The World Cup also has an official page of its own, full of behind-the-scenes photos and interviews with soccer stars.

Instagram: Finally, the FIFA World Cup has an official Instagram page where it posts all kinds of fun photos of players and fans.

Vine: Six second videos will give you quick doses of the beautiful game. Vine has a World Cup-themed page with all kinds of video posts about the upcoming matches.

Apps to Follow the World Cup

ESPN FC Soccer & World Cup

ESPN’s app for the World Cup featues in-depth analysis and commentary from their team of experts. Customize the experience by choosing your favorite teams to follow and set detailed alerts for everything from in-game substitutions to sore updates to team stats. Users in the U.S. can also see exclusive video highlights from the games. The free app is available for iOS and Android.

FIFA '14

Fans of EA’s FIFA series for Xbox and PlayStation will appreciate the company's latest World Cup iOS offering. In FIFA ’14 players can compete in their own World Cup brackets and customize their team’s lineup to compete with their ideal fantasy team. Those who want to make it more competitive can challenge friends and other online player’s in the game’s multiplayer mode. The free app is available for iOS.

FIFA Official

FIFA Official provides comprehensive profiles of each team, player and coach detailing the past national and World Cup history of each organization. The app has a daily live blog that provides a constantly-refreshed stream of updates from the matches and exclusive photos and videos from the tournament. Super fans can also play games, vote on each game’s “Man of the Match” and sign up for a shot at winning kick-off balls used during the actual games. The free app is available for iOS and Android.

Onefootball Brasil

Choose your favorite teams and get up to the minute updates from both on and off the field. Listen to live commentary from matches and chat with your fellow fans when you connect the app to your Facebook account. The app also has in-depth pre and post-game videos of press conference, interviews and analysis. The free app is available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

Travel Portuguese Futebol Edition

For those actually traveling to Brazil to watch the games, Travel Portuguese Futebol Edition from Rosetta Stone will give you a crash-course in essential Portuguese to help you get around the country. The app has simple tutorials that teach you essential words and phrases for learning soccer terminology, taking public transit, ordering food and more. The free app is available for Android.

theScore

theScore is a one-stop shop for all the latest breaking news and updates from your favorite teams and players. Users can set breaking news alerts for individual players or entire teams. Follow along during games with the constantly-updated steam of news about each team and real-time game and score updates. For an even more detailed look, use the app’s shot tracking feature to see exactly how each game’s goals were scored. The app is available for iOS and Android.

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